Written by James Buce<\/p>\n
The Harding University baseball team is wrapping up the 2010 season with only four games left before the regular season finale April 25.<\/p>\n
Currently sitting sixth in the Gulf South Conference West Division, the Bisons have compiled a 21-22 record with games left against University of Arkansas-Monticello and Arkansas Tech University.<\/p>\n
The team has struggled at times but has shown improvement throughout the season, and there are high hopes going into next year.<\/p>\n
“We have been somewhat inconsistent,” freshman Lucas Waddell said. “But have shown we can compete with some very good teams when we play to our full potential.”<\/p>\n
Waddell, a freshman pitcher, has shown solid outings this year leading the team with a 4-1 record and a 2.40 ERA. He won the Gulf South Conference West Division Pitcher of the Week on April 6.<\/p>\n
Along with Troy Keith and Kyle Cline, Waddell is the third pitcher on the roster to have won the award.<\/p>\n
“It’s an honor to win the same award as those two great pitchers and be apart of such a great pitching staff,” Waddell said.<\/p>\n
With only four games left, the Bisons are still in control of their own hopes of a playoff berth in the GSC Tournament.<\/p>\n
“As of right now our team has a great chance of making the playoffs,” junior Jason Nappi said. “We have backed ourselves in a corner a bit, but we still control our own destiny as faras reaching the GSC tournament.”<\/p>\n
Nappi, a junior transfer from Mississippi State, is leading the team with a .391 batting average, 45 runs batted in and seven home runs. He sees potential going into next season with the young players on the team.<\/p>\n
“There absolutely is a positive outlook,” Nappi said. “We are getting better every day, and a lot of our young talent is really gaining experience. Harding baseball has a bright future ahead of it.”<\/p>\n
The team will travel April 17 to 18 to Monticello for a weekend series against the Boll Weevils.<\/p>\n
“We will have to stay focused and approach each game individually,” Nappi said. “But we have a team that will be able to succeed on the road.”<\/p>\n
The Bisons will finish the season with a home stand against Arkansas Tech April 24 to 25.<\/p>\n
“Hopefully we can pull through in these last few weeks and notch out our spot in the GSC tournament,” Nappi said.<\/p>\n
The next couple of weeks will determine whether the Bisons make the GSC tournament and potentially the Division II playoffs.<\/p>\n
“I think the team is comprised of great guys with the talent to keep doing well and the determination to keep getting better as the season continues,” Waddell said.<\/p>\n
Even if the Bisons miss the playoffs, this season provided hope for the future and a bright outlook going into next year.<\/p>\n
Written by James Buce The Harding University baseball team is wrapping up the 2010 season with only four games left before the regular season finale April 25. Currently sitting sixth…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":376,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[268],"class_list":["post-4056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports","tag-hurricane-florence"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4056","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/376"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4056"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4056\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}